Georgetown: The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has condemned what it said is the well-orchestrated efforts by the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition to muzzle the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Members of Parliament from fully participating in the 2015 National Budget debate.
The party in a press release said, they are not being offered any extension to their already reduced 15-minute time allocation. The statement was sent out minutes after the end of the second day of the debate.
The Party said that the Government’s Chief Whip is desirous of breaching entrenched parliamentary conventions and practices where the Leader of the Opposition closes the debate for the Opposition benches, immediately before the member of the Government closes the debate.
“This convention was respected throughout the 23 years of the PPP/C Administrations, whereby successive Leaders of the Opposition, Mr Desmond Hoyte, Mr Robert Corbin and Mr David Granger always spoke immediately before the Government Minister who closed the annual Budget debate and where neither person was constrained by time limits”, the PPP said in its statement.
In fact, it reminded that in the 11th Parliament, with a one-seat majority, the then Opposition (APNU+AFC) wanted to place the Leader of the Opposition to speak before four Government speakers and not as the penultimate speaker, with a restriction of 45 minutes.
“The PPP calls on Guyanese to take note of the Government’s efforts to use these restrictions to prevent our MPs from exposing their uninspiring, recycled and underwhelming 2015 National Budget”, the Party said in its statement.
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